Sisters of the Goddess
by DrakonGurl
Summary: Ara and her Sisters have been searching for the last memeber of their Coven for a long time. They finally find her, and a fifth Sister, at Spencer's Academy. But they also find the long cursed Sons of Ipswich...rest inside...
1. Prolouge

**Summary:** Ara and her Sisters have been looking for the final member of their Coven for a long time. They finally find her, and another Sister, at Spencer's Academy. They also find the long cursed Sons of Ipswich, and are charged by the Goddess that cursed them to redeme them in Her eyes. But as they work with the disbelieving Sons, Ara's dark past is catching up with them, and it has a new ally in the form of an old enemy...

**Prologue**

Chase couldn't believe it. He was alive. Everything hurt, but he was alive. Drawing a ragged breath, he opened his eyes, and promptly shut them. The light _flickered_, and it made his head _hurt_, even though the light was dim.

Somewhere to his right, someone laughed.

"Looks like he's awake. And _smarting_." The guy (it was definitely a guy) laughed again. Chase gritted his teeth, forced open his eyes, and Used, trying to throw the boy against the wall. The teen flicked his hand and Chase's Power exploded against the cave wall. He laughed again, and Chase's jaw clenched. "Definitely smarting."

"So our boy's awake." This from a sultry, female voice that sent a shiver down Chase's spine. A woman walked into his view, a woman so beautiful, she took even Chase's evil breath away. He pushed himself up, only just managing not to groan, and looked at her.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The guy snorted, and the woman smiled.

"Someone who's going to give you the ability to Use whenever you want to."


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Because I forgot it in the prolouge, I own nothing, not even my mind! (I sold it on Ebay.) . 

**Chapter One**

Ara looked down at the quiet scene that lay before her. The full moon light turned the campus of Spencer's Academy into something much better looking than when the sun was shining on it. At least, it did in Ara's opinion. She looked at her two friends, her Sisters, who sat sideways on slender broomsticks like hers, looking down at the school where their fourth, and final, Sister awaited them. Jess, their Air Sister, was slightly miffed about being called out so late, when the sun wasn't shining and it was so cold, but she was just as eager as Ara and Shelly were to have the last member of their Coven with them. But, as usual, she put on her sneering, I'm-better-than-thou act, seeming as if she couldn't care less about their Sister.

"She goes _here_? I would have thought one of _our_ Sisters would have better taste than this," she sneered down at the school.

"'This' is a school that almost guarantees you to get into an Ivy League college," Shelly, their Water Sister, said. She always had a calm aura about her in public, but she was very playful when it was just the Coven. She was also the most knowledgeable about the world in general. Jess got fashion, parties, and people; Ara got Magyk and the Otherworld.

"Besides that," Ara added, "there were a lot of actual Witches around here. Their descendents probably still are here."

"Maybe we'll find some other Covens around." Jess said with a grin. She'd dropped the better-than-thou act for the moment. She suddenly looked miserably at the moon, and added, "I wish we could have done this during the _day_. I could have Turned to Phoenix, and given you a full report."

Shelly snorted. "You? A full report? Please, you don't even know what a full report _is_."

"She's not here," Ara said suddenly. She'd Changed her vision to infrared, then Magykal, being the only one of the Sisters who could do so, and seen barely any people inside the dorms, and not one of them even slightly Magykal. "Almost no one's in the dorms. Bet there's a party going on somewhere," she added, shooting Jess a grin. Jess grinned back and Shelly gave a small smile.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go find our Sister!" With that, the curvy redhead shot off in the direction over the woods, followed by a grinning Ara and Shelly. Shelly flew over Jess and threw ice down her shirt. Jess's screech and Shelly's ensuing laughter made Ara smile; she finally had a family, a family that wouldn't betray her, and it was about to be completed. She sped with her Sisters toward the huge party going on at the dells.

They glided over it, careful to stay out of the circle of light in case someone looked up. Ara hid a smile as she thought of what people might think if they looked up and saw her in her second form. What a shock they would get, since no one believed in Dragons anymore.

"You see her?" Shelly asked. Ara Changed her vision quickly, searching for the Magykal presence of one of their kind of Witch. It took her only a moment, but she didn't just find one Sister of the Goddess; she found two. Blinking, she Changed her vision again, this time so she could she what kind of Magyk a Witch had. Ara's eyes widened as she saw an Earth _and_ a Water Sister.

"There are two," Ara said in a quiet voice. Jess and Shelly, who had been fighting, looked at Ara in shock. Ara spun around and flew up onto the cliff that overlooked the party.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Jess called. "If she's there, aren't we going to talk to her?"

"We can't land in the middle of a party. What would those poor people think?"

Ara smiled over her shoulder as Jess blushed. All the Sisters of the Goddess had excellent night vision, so Ara and Shelly saw it. Both were smiling as they landed at the top of the cliff.

"Lapse of common sense, so what?" Jess muttered, landing beside them. Ara and Shelly grinned at each other, turned, and dropped off the cliff. Jess followed them, Using her Magyk to keep from killing herself when she hit the ground. Together, they walked toward the party, and toward their newest Sisters.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Sarah, Kate, and the guys were having a great time, dancing and laughing, telling stories, and, in the case of Sarah and Caleb, and Kate and Pogue, hugging and kissing. Reid and Tyler were making plans for mischief, hoping to make life miserable for a Aaron Abbot and his friends. Sarah and Kate were laughing when the Coven arrived. They came over the hill, three girls who gave off an aura of raw Power and energy, drawing almost every eye to them as they passed. One slipped off, joining a group of dancers and adding her energy to theirs. The other two kept walking, right for the Sons of Ipswich and co.

Kate felt a tingle down her spine, and shivered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sarah shiver too. She felt like her world was shifting, and she suddenly felt Power flow through her. She saw Sarah's pupils dilate, her body stiffen, then relax. The Power felt good, and she felt it in Sarah, and more coming from the two girls coming toward them. Catching Sarah's eye, Kate turned toward them, smiling, knowing they were friends, that they were Sisters, even if she didn't know what that meant exactly.

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Ara smiled as the two girls turned toward them, but suddenly several boys stepped into their path. They leered at Ara and Shelly, and the leader stepped closer to Ara, so that he was practically pressed against her, but Ara didn't step back, because that would be backing down, she would _never_ back down to anyone _ever_ again. She smiled icily.

"Can we help you, _boys_?" she said, using _boys_ as an insult. The guy didn't even notice the subtlety.

"Yeah, you two can join me and the guys for a little fun." He leered at her and pressed his hips against hers. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she smelled beer on his breath, and was about to haul off and punch him in the face when the Earth Sister stepped in.

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Kate shoved between Aaron and the girl with black hair, pushing him backwards as hard as she could. Unfortunately, she didn't realize the Power humming in her veins didn't just make her Magykally strong; it made her physically strong as well. So her shove sent Aaron flying back against his friends. But Kate acted like she had meant that to happen, and, since most of them were drunk, nobody saw anything suspicious.

"Leave her alone Aaron. She's not some whore like Kira." Sarah said, standing beside Kate.

"Bitch," Aaron said as his friends pushed him back up. Suddenly the guys were there, ready to defend their girls from the prick and his gang.

"What'd you call her, Abbot?" Pogue said, getting into Aaron's face. They looked ready to fight, then a curvy red-head flounced into the group, and the girl with boy-short, spiky brown hair stepped forward and put her hands on Pogue's and Aaron's arms.

"Hey, hey, let's just calm down, shall we?" she said. Kate felt the Power she was using to calm the two guys down.

"This is a _party_," added the red-head, "Why ruin a party over a little misunderstanding? Come on, go find your girls, and _dance_." She put her arms above her head and started dancing on the spot, swaying and spinning sensually. Energy flowed out, and Kate could tell it was infecting everyone around the red-head. Aaron and his goons glared at them, but walked away without another word. The Sons looked confused, but the black-haired girl stepped up to Kate and smiled.

"Thanks," she said, and held out her hand. "I'm Ara, this is Shelly," she pointed to the spiky-haired brunette, who smiled shyly, "and that," Ara pointed to where the red-head had gone off to dance, "is Jess. She's our party girl." The smile turned to a grin, and the guys chuckled. Kate shook her hand, feeling Ara's Power travel up her arm and mingle with her own.

"I'm Kate, and these are Sarah, Caleb, Pogue, Tyler, and Reid." Kate pointed to each of her friends (and boyfriend) in turn. Shelly stayed half behind Ara, obviously, almost painfully, shy. Ara looked confident, but distant, and Jess, well Jess looked like a party girl, but a good kind. Kate smiled; she could practically _see_ the depths to these three, and knew that she would love knowing them. Her new Sisters.

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Ara wanted to talk to Kate and Sarah about the Goddess and their now active Powers, but she didn't think she could get them away from their guys without things seeming weird, so she and Shelly just hung out with them. Shelly seemed attracted to the quieter boy, Tyler, and he to her. Ara knew that Jess would tease her about it later, but since Jess seemed to like Reid, Shelly could tease right back.

But then Ara bumped into Reid. She gasped as she felt the Power that coiled within him, unlike any she'd ever encountered. It _fed_ off his _body_ when he Used it. Quickly, she Changed her vision so that she could see any form of Magyk. The four boys _blazed _with Power, equal to that of the Sisters, or nearly so. Once her vision adjusted to the brightness, she could pick out differences. Caleb was at least twice as bright as Pogue, while dimmer than Pogue Reid and Tyler, but were of equal brightness to each other. Kate and Sarah were Pogue's brightness, and Shelly and Jess were only slightly brighter. Ara herself was brighter than any of them, because she'd had her Power active the longest, but only just when compared to Caleb.

She sent her thoughts along to Shelly and Jess, sharing her Magyk vision with them. She felt Shelly stiffen beside her, and Jess hurried over.

"Hey, I just remembered, there's something we gotta do," Jess said, breathless from dancing and half running over to them.

"You girls need a ride?" Tyler said.

"Nah, we've got one," Shelly smiled flirtatiously at him, and the boy blushed slightly. Jess, her eyes flickering between the two of them, grinned.

"Not now," Ara hissed in her ear, then turned to smile at the group. "It was nice meeting you guys. Enjoy the rest of the party."

Before they could reply, Ara steered her Sisters toward where all the cars were parked.

_Why are we going this way?_ Jess thought at Ara through their connection as Sisters.

_Whoa_, Shelly thought, _you really are lacking common sense tonight. Going to the cliffs would be kinda stupid if we drove here._

Jess blushed, and began to tease Shelly about Tyler to cover her embarrassment, and Shelly teased her about Reid, and Ara shut them out as they circled around the party, just out of sight. They reached the cliffs quickly, since Ara was unconsciously Using Magyk to make herself faster, and the other two had to keep up. She looked up at the sheer drop, and kicked off the ground. She Turned to Dragon as she flew up the cliff, pumping her wings and flying the rest of the way to where their brooms were. Shelly and Jess exchanged a looked, then Jess Used to take the two of them to the top.

Ara was pacing when they got there, murmuring to herself, thinking of ideas to help the four boys below. She barely looked at Jess and Shelly. Shelly cleared her throat loudly.

"Um, so want are we going to do about, um, Tyler and his friends?" she said, overly loud, trying to get Ara's attention.

"I don't know," she said, running her fingers through her short black hair. "The only things I can think of require some sort of sacrifice, like killing someone, or cutting off limbs, or something like that. All Dark Magyk for immortality, or longevity. And any Healing Magyk would have to be renewed almost constantly, and that might kill the Healer. I just don't _know_." Ara sat on her broom, which hovered behind her, and buried her head in her hands.

"Why do we have to help them?" Jess asked cautiously. Ara glared at her.

"_Because_," she said, anger darkening her tone, "we are _Sisters of the Goddess_, _good_ Witches, and its our _duty_ to help people with Magyk in them. We do _not_ leave them to suffer." Ara stood and began pacing again, muttering and shaking her head.

"We could Summon the Goddess," Shelly said tentatively, knowing that Ara wouldn't like the idea. "Ask Her for help." Shelly waited for Ara to shoot her down, but Ara just sat there.

"We've got a full Coven now…" Ara murmured. Suddenly she looked up at her Sisters, her eyes bright. "We can Summon Her now."

"We couldn't before?" Jess said.

"No," Ara said, shaking her head. "Summoning takes a full Coven, which we didn't have. The spells simple; it just takes a lot of Power. Kate and Sarah will have no problem helping us." Brimming with energy, Ara mounted her broom and rose into the air, turning towards Spencer's.

"C'_mon_," she said when the other two didn't follow her. "We should get back to the dorms ahead of them."

"But Ara," Jess said, rising into the air behind her Sister, "they might not be back for _hours_. We can't wait that long."

Ara looked thoughtful, but Shelly supplied the answer.

"We could call the police." Jess looked appalled but Ara grinned and pulled out a cell phone. Changing her voice, she called and reported a party on the dells, with lots of underage drinking, while Jess whimpered and Shelly laughed silently. Ara smiled as she hung up, and they waited till they heard the sirens before leaving for the dorms.

"Race ya," she said, just before taking off to the dorms. Jess won, since flying was something somewhat natural to her. Ara Used to get into the dorm, opening a window, climbing through, and walking towards the room where she could feel her new Sisters' power coming from. She paused before the door, debating whether they should wait outside, or inside.

"Let's wait inside, and scare 'em when they come in," Shelly said, grinning. Ara smiled and Used, unlocking the door and opening it. She walked in, still grinning, and her Sisters followed her. The door swung closed behind them, locking itself once again.

**A/N: Reviews make authors happy, and happy authors write more and update faster. And this author gets writers' block without reviews. So REVIEW!!!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Kate laughed quietly with Sarah as she dropped her keys yet again, on account of half-frozen fingers.

"Here, let me," Kate giggled as her friend fumbled with the recovered keys. She was about to take out her own keys when she felt something-some_one_-brush her consciousness.

_Use your power_, whispered a voice that sounded like the black-haired girl from the party. Kate frowned, looking up and down the hallway.

_Just feel for it_, whispered Ara's voice,_ you'll see_. The touch disappeared and Kate suddenly smiled.

"Hey, Sarah?" she said.

"Hmm?" replied her friend as she rubbed her fingers together.

"Don't be scared," Kate said as she faced the door and felt for the thing that was coiled inside her. She teased out a bit and pushed it into the lock. A click and the door swinging open let her know it had worked. She grinned at the stunned Sarah and walked in the door, flicking on the light as she went. She barely managed to smother a shriek when she saw them, while Sarah wasn't so in control. She shrieked, short but loud, before clamping her hand over her mouth.

The red-head, Jess, grinned at the shy girl, Shelly.

"Told ya she'd scream," Jess said. "Waters are so predictable." Blue-eyed Shelly glared at her friend, and Jess snickered. Ara smiled at them all.

"How'd - ?" Kate started, but Ara interrupted.

"Same as you. We Used our Power," she said. Jess grinned.

"Well, Ara was the only one actually _Using_, so don't blame us," she said, "we just follow her. She is, after all, the leader of the Coven." Jess smiled innocently when Ara glared at her.

"Using?" Sarah said breathlessly, collapsing on her bed. The girl looked extremely pale, more so than the mild scare should have warranted.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Kate said, sitting beside her. The others frowned and sat around the girl as she started to shake. "Sarah?"

"Chase," the girl said before burying her face in her hands and crying. Nearly an hour and half a tissue box later, they had extracted the whole story from the distraught girl, and mostly gotten her to stop crying. Kate was staring off into space, her face blank, by the end of Sarah's tale.

"Kate?" Sarah said, sniffing and wiping her nose of a tissue.

"Why didn't they tell me?" she said. "I've been with Pogue for, for forever. And he put a spell on me too. Why didn't they tell me?" Kate looked at Sarah and there were tears in her eyes. "Don't they trust me?"

None of the girls had an answer, so Ara jumped to why they were here.

"You two have the Power, too, you know." Sarah looked at her in shock, and Kate dashed her tears.

"So that was you? You told me to unlock the door?" she said, staring at Ara, who nodded.

"Wait," Sarah said, frowning, "I thought the Power showed itself when you were thirteen - "

"Not for us," Ara said. "I believe your boys were cursed."

"Cursed?" Kate and Sarah said, looking at each other.

"Their bloodlines. They must have done something to anger the Goddess. She's the one who gave us, and your boys, the Power. They did something, made Her mad at them, and got themselves cursed. But I'm not sure." Here Ara paused and took a deep breath. "So we're going to Summon Her, and ask." Silence met this statement, as Sarah and Kate stared at the gold-eyed girl.

"Summon…?" Sarah said.

"Yes," Ara said. "The Goddess can be Summoned if a full Coven performs a ritual. We now have a full Coven, with Kate, and extra Power with you, Sarah. We can Summon her, and ask her about the boys."

More silence, then Kate spoke.

"What's the ritual?" Ara breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and told them what had to be done for the ritual.

"It's _that_ easy? And we couldn't do it without a full Coven?" Jess said afterwards, staring at Ara. The black-haired girl shrugged.

"We have to bleed?" Kate said, disgusted that the person who gave them their Power demanded blood to be Summoned.

"A drop from each of us. Be glad we don't work with the Goddess's sister, the Dark Lady. She demands total sacrifice." Ara shuddered as dark memories pressed at her, and focused her attention on setting up the herbs to be burned and the brass brazier they would burn them in. She drew the pentagram on the floor and set the brazier in the center.

"Places, people," Shelly said when Ara tossed the herbs in the unlit bowl. The girls moved to sit at each point on the star and Ara Used, lighting the herbs on fire. She pulled out a knife and pricked her finger, squeezing out a drop of blood into the fire. It hissed, turned totally gold, and Ara passed the knife to Kate, who sat to her left. Kate took a deep breath and followed Ara's example, and the fire hissed again, parts of it turning green. Sarah followed, adding pale blue to the fire, then Shelly, adding a darker blue, and finally Jess. The fire roared as the last drop fell into it, and flashed white. The girls squinted to see into the glare as they joined hands and began to chant.

"_Goddess of Light,_

_Goddess of Might,_

_Hear us now, and come to us, _

_We Summon you, our Goddess."_

They repeated the lines three times, and the fire roared again, flaring high, blinding the girls, who closed or shielded their eyes. The light against their eyelids died and the girls slowly opened their eyes, and then stared in awe. There, standing where the brazier and fire had just been, was a woman, the most beautiful woman any of them had ever seen. And she was smiling at them.

**A/N: Reviews make authors happy, and happy authors write more and update faster. And this author gets writers' block without reviews. So REVIEW!!!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**A/N: I'm SOOOO sorry that this took forever to put up but between exams and snow days, I got REALLY distracted. So sorry. Don't throw things at me. hides behind the Goddess Oh, and Aisling is pronounced Ash-lin.**

_**"Hello girls."**_ The voice, beautiful and rich with an untraceable accent, set off small explosions of color behind their eyes. It seemed like the voice wasn't just being heard by their ears, but was being spoken directly in their minds as well. The woman before them was indescribably beautiful. 'Indescribably' because she appeared different to each girl, their own personal picture of the most beautiful woman in the world incarnate.

The Goddess was smiling at them, seeming to face each of them at the same time. It was a great and terrible feeling, to have Her attention entirely on them, like the entire universe was looking at them.

_**"Is there something I can do for you?"**_ She said, Her voice patient, as if She was used to having this kind of affect on people. Ara blinked a few times, forcing away her awe, and looked at the Goddess.

"We would like to ask you a few things," she said.

_**"Ask away,"**_ said the Goddess with a dazzling smile. Ara had to blink several times and take a deep breath before she could speak again.

"We'd like to know about the Sons of Ipswich." The Goddess frowned and it made the girls around her want to weep.

_**"I know nothing of any 'Sons of Ipswich',"**_ She said.

"The bloodlines of Power around here. It goes only to the first born son, and always shows. And the Power kills them if they Use too much." The frown disappeared and the Sisters breathed a sigh of relief.

_**"Ah, yes,"**_ the Goddess said, _**"I remember now. **_

_**"I cursed them a very long time ago, for over Using, and betraying my sacred trust. They went to my sister when I reprimanded them for misusing my Power. I cursed them for the indiscretion. But I gave them a way to redeem themselves. If some future generation could not get addicted to the Power, to Using, then the curse would break."**_ Suddenly Her smile turned sheepish.

_**"They didn't like the terms, and cursed my name. I grew angry and took away their memories of how and why they were cursed, how the Power came to be, and of the redemption I offered them. I erased the passages referring to me from their Book of Damnation, and left them to their fate. I realize it was a stupid thing to do, but once done, it was impossible to undo. And no other bloodline would go near them after that, so they had no one to help them."**_

She smiled then, positively radiant. _**"But now you can help them."**_

"But one was already addicted," Sarah said. At the Goddess's frown, she added, "But he tried to kill the others, so they killed him. But I'm not sure he's actually dead." She bit her lip and looked somewhat frightened. The Goddess's frown was deeper than ever, and even more tear inducing.

_**"What is his name?"**_ the Goddess said abruptly. Sarah jumped and stammered as she answered.

"Chase, Chase Collins, or Chase Pope."

The Goddess lifted Her arms slightly, bringing Her hands away from Her sides. The Sisters shuddered as one as the wave of Power washed over them. More followed the first, and soon the girls felt almost like they were drowning in Power.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a minute, the Goddess let Her hands fall back to Her sides. She looked at Sarah.

_**"You are right, the boy is not dead,"**_ She said, and Sarah whimpered, but the Goddess had turned to Ara, and only gave her a sympathetic glance. _**"They have taken him in."**_ At this Ara became deathly pale, and swayed on her feet._** "If you wish for this curse to be removed, you must kill him, and make sure the others do not become addicted. But beware, my children, for they have already Used Dark Magyk to negate the curse on him. He is as powerful as you are, Ara."**_

The Goddess suddenly spun in a full circle, raising Her arms. When Her voice came again, it was different, laced with even more Power, and infinitely older, full of mysteries and secrets.

_**"I charge you, my Sisters, with this task. Kill the Dark One, and redeem the others, and I will reward you greatly. Beware the seduction of my Twin, the Dark Lady, or you will suffer the same curse as those you seek to redeem. Do not fail me."**_

The Goddess spun ever faster, and began to shine, the air around her turning white. Suddenly, Ara swayed forward, and cried out.

"Wait! What of Aisling?" The girl's face was twisted in pain as she waited for an answer from the swirling column of white.

_**"She is well, and happy. She sends her love."**_ The column flashed bright and disappeared. When they could see again, the girls looked at their Fire Sister, and saw she was smiling.

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Reid shot up from bed, breathing heavily, his entire body covered in cold sweat. Somebody was Using, and big time. He jerked his head to look over at Tyler's bed to see the younger boy looking at him with the same expression of bewilderment and fright on his face.

"Did you feel that?" he said, his voice hoarse.

Before Reid could answer, his cell phone rang. Reid grabbed it and saw Caleb's number flash across the screen.

"I didn't do it!" Reid answered, before Caleb could start in on him.

_"I know you didn't!" _Caleb said, sounding mad and scared at the same time. _"You don't have that kind of Power yet. And if any of us did what I just felt, we'd be dead."_

Reid rubbed a hand across his face and shifted on his bed. Tyler was still looking at him, so he put the phone on speaker.

"Who could have that kind of Power?" he said, turning on the light and putting the phone on the bedside table.

_"I don't know,"_ Caleb said slowly, as if he were thinking. _"I'd say Chase, but…I killed him, didn't I? And not even he'd be that stupid."_ There was a beep and Caleb spoke again. _"That's Pogue, hold on."_ Another beep and then silence. Reid looked at Tyler, who was looking miserably at the phone, like he'd been hoping Caleb would have the answers. Tyler looked up after a minute of silence.

"You have any ideas?" he said, shoulders slumped. Reid thought about it for a long moment, frowning as he remembered the girls at the party.

"Hey, you remember when that Ara chick bumped into me and kinda froze?" Reid said. Tyler looked blank, so Reid continued. "Well, when she touched me, and when she was looking at me after, I felt…something." Tyler's exasperated look spoke volumes about what he thought Reid had felt. "Not like that! She's hot, but c'mon, I wouldn't think about that at a time like this!" Again, the look spoke volumes, and Reid felt the need to throw something at his roommate. He picked up a shoe and threw it, but Tyler blocked it and Reid went on. "It was more like… something pulling on my Power, like when I Use. Like _she_ was Using."

At this, Tyler snorted and Reid threw another shoe.

"C'mon, Reid. A girl with the Power? It isn't possible." But Reid saw something in his eyes that made him think Tyler'd felt something too.

"You felt something too, didn't you? When you were dancing the spiky girl?" Reid demanded.

"Her name's Shelly," Tyler said, angrily.

"Shelly, yeah, but you felt something? When she touched you? And when Jess was dancing between Pogue and Aaron? Did you feel that too?" Tyler looked mildly uncomfortable but Reid could see he was starting to make the boy think. And he was starting to think about it more too. He'd felt someone Using just before the girls had showed up, and again when they were leaving. He'd assumed it was one of his Brothers, but now that he thought about it, it couldn't have been.

"What if it was them, just now? What if they-" he was cut off by a wave of Power crashing over him. It left him doubled over, gasping for breath. He didn't have a chance to recover as another wave, and another, and another, rolled over him. When it was over, he grabbed the trashcan from under his bedside table and hurled. He heard Tyler puking in the bathroom and hoped he'd made it to the toilet, or at least the sink.

By the time they were finished being sick, another wave of Using hit them, not nearly as bad as the first two, but still bad enough to leave the boys reeling. Caleb came back to the phone about a minute after the third Using.

_"What was that?" _he said.

"Reid has an idea," Tyler said before Reid could speak. Reid glared at his friend, since he'd run out of ammo to throw at him.

_"Well?"_ Caleb said when the pause grew lengthy.

"Um, well, uh…"

_"Spit it out, Reid!"_

"Okay! Did you notice anything weird about those girls at the dells tonight?"

_"What do you mean?"_

"He seems to think they were the ones Using." Tyler interjected.

Silence from the phone.

"Caleb?" Tyler said worriedly.

_"I did feel something, just before they left, and again after, something like someone Using, but…"_

"But what?" Reid said.

_"It felt…I don't know, like it was…freer. Without consequences. Like whoever was Using could, well, do anything, and not worry about addiction. That's the best I can describe it."_

A brief silence, then Reid said, "Yep, basically what I got.," and looked at Tyler for his opinion. He sighed heavily before answering.

"Yeah, I felt something like that." Tyler suddenly looked thoughtful. "And the Using just now…it felt like that too."

**A/N: Reviews make authors happy, and happy authors write more and update faster. And this author gets writers' block without reviews. So REVIEW!!!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Okay, so here's a new chapter, really late, I'm sorry, REALLY bad writer's block, but hope you enjoy it! Also, if any gets the 'eternal servitude' thing, you're awesome.**

Chase looked up from where he sat on a pile of cushions in the fire-lit cave, reading from one of books on Dark Magyk the woman had given him. He'd just felt someone Using, and Using big time. Casting a surreptitious glance at the laughing guy, and saw he too had looked up and did not, for once, look amused. In fact, he was frowning, and looked slightly worried.

"They Summon Her," said the sultry voice of the woman, gazing toward the dark entrance of the cave. Chase got the impression that, if someone were to write that down, they would capitalize 'Her', like one would capitalize 'Him' if they were talking about God.

"That's not good," muttered the laughing guy.

"Only in that she will now know we are near," said the woman, and Chase got the feeling that they were talking about someone besides the 'Her' they had mentioned earlier. "But now," the woman added, a smile curving the corners of her full lips up, "we finally know where she is." She looked suddenly at the laughing guy, and said in clipped tones, "Alex, go, pay our girl a visit." 'Alex' nodded and moved towards the cave entrance. "Oh, and Alexander?" The teenage looking guy turned back towards her; something in his eyes said he didn't like the full version of his name. "Dreams, I think. Less obtrusive. We don't want to scare her off now that we've found her, do we?" Alex smiled, but his eyes looked sad and pained.

He turned and walked out the entrance; the sound of rushing wind filled Chase's ears, and Alex vanished in a gust of it. Chase surreptitiously considered the sultry-voiced woman, then turned back to the books. Though questions buzzed in his head, he didn't ask the woman any of them, partly because he was used to getting answers on his own, and partly because something told him that she might answer them, but the answers would cost him more than he wanted to pay.

Suddenly the woman turned and smiled at him. "I knew you were a smart one." She tapped him on the nose with her finger like he was a young child she was particularly fond of, smiling. "That's why I brought you here, instead of leaving you to be killed in that battle." She turned and walked back toward the back of the cave, where the firelight should have reached, but didn't. Just before she stepped into the blackness, she looked at him over her shoulder. Her smile was still there but her eyes were icy. "Remember that, if you ever think to betray me, because I can kill you much more easily, and with a great deal more pain, if you ever do." She waved then, and stepped into the wall of black, vanishing completely.

--

"Who's Aisling?" Kate asked, looking at Ara, then shook her head. "No, that's your business. We need to talk to the boys."

"In the morning," Jess said, yawning, "I'm too tired for explaining something like _the Goddess _to a bunch of high school boys, even if they are Witches." She looked at Ara, who was still staring at the place where the Goddess had disappeared, the Fire inclined Witch smiling slightly. "Ara? Earth to Ara, come in, Ara." Jess waved a hand in front of her friend's face, and Ara blinked, eyes focusing on Jess slowly.

"Huh?…Oh, sorry," she said, shaking her head as if to clear it and smiling at her friend. "What were we talking about?"

The other girls exchanged looks, shook their heads, and said nothing. Ara frowned, and looked at Shelly, who usually told her what was going on if she didn't get it. Shelly smiled sympathetically but said nothing. Ara glared at her friends.

"C'mon, I was thinking about my sister, my _biological_ sister, so cut me some slack here. What were we talking about?"

"You have a sister?" Jess said, looking startled, but Shelly spoke over her.

"We've decided to wait till morning to talk to the boys. Jess says she's too tired to deal with them right now." The latter part was said in a teasing tone with a slight grin. Jess glared.

"Are you implying that if we were going to be doing something besides _explaining_ that I wouldn't - "

"Not now, guys," Ara groaned, looking at her friends as if they were the cause of all her troubles in life. Which, when it came to mundane things like eating and sleeping regularly, they were. The two grinned sheepishly at her, and Ara gave them a small smile. She felt oddly tired, as if she'd been awake for too long, and done too much during that time. Sarah looked at her with concern evident on her face.

"Are you okay?" she said. "You look beat." Ara smiled weakly at the blonde girl.

"I just need some sleep." That got Jess and Shelly's attention, and they began to fuss over her, making their way out the door and saying good-bye and scolding Ara for not speaking up. Ara managed to smile and wave at Kate and Sarah as her friends pushed her out the door. They wouldn't let her ride her broom by herself, and kept checking up on her once she was in her bed in the hotel room. Finally, after the twelfth time, she told them off and made _them_ go to bed. Without the two of them constantly poking their heads into her room, she quickly drifted off to sleep.

--

Ara weaved slowly through the trees that surrounded her. She knew this place, and she knew what she'd find here; they had all played here before, when they were still allowed to play. She recognized the trail she was walking beside, and turned away from it, stepping suddenly out of the woods onto the edge of a cliff. The sound of the ocean washing against the rocks far below invoked memories from a more pleasant time.

She stepped up to the edge and sat down, swinging her legs out into open air then back against the rock.

"How are you, Alex?" she called to the man standing in the shade of the trees. He laughed quietly before walking over and sitting beside her, his leg bumping against hers.

"I'm hanging in there," the green-eyed teen said, grinning at her. "What about you? We felt you Summon my aunt. How'd that go?"

"Great. She gave us a task. Shouldn't be too hard." Ara bit her lip and looked away from her old friend, debating the merit of telling him more. She took a deep breath and looked back into Alex's green eyes. "She showed me Ash."

Alex's face became blank, but his eyes showed his worry and longing.

"How was she?"

"She looked so happy, as happy as she was with you." She paused, looking out at the water, then looking back at Alex. "She still loves you, y'know. She managed to convey that, too."

Alex looked away, not bothering to hide his feelings now. "I miss her so much. I wish, and I don't mean any offense, but I wish that it had been you who she'd killed, instead of her."

"No offense taken. She killed Aisling because she knew it would be what hurt all of us the most."

They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in thoughts and memories. Finally, Ara spoke again.

"Why," she began hesitantly, "why didn't you join us, Alex? Why didn't you run from her when we did? I know Ash asked you to come, and you turned her down, but why?"

Alex sat staring out at the sea for a long time before he answered, and when he did, it wasn't what she expected.

"She's my mother, Ara" he said sadly. "At the time, as much as I hated, and still hate, being with her, I had to love her too. I wanted to kill her after what she did to Aisling, but we both know that's not possible, and she watched me so closely, I couldn't run. I hate her, but I can't leave her." He laughed grimly. "I can't even kill myself to get away. She owns me, body and soul, because she's in me."

"Couldn't you ask-" Alex's bark of laughter cut her off.

"My aunt's not gonna help me. She can't. The rules they negotiated said that only their disciples can interfere with each others' business. And none of them even know about me."

"_I_ do. And I'm a Sister. Meaning I can help you. My Coven's full, we're powerful and we know what we're doing. We can help you." She paused and grinned at him. "As long as you don't get in our way."

Alex laughed, though it was a weak joke, and held up his hands.

"Get me away from my mom and I'll be your servant forever."

"Hmmm, eternal servitude. You don't know what you've just gotten yourself into."

Both laughed, enjoying having a moment when they could be friends again, though it couldn't last long. At long last, Alex sighed, stood, and held out a hand to help Ara up.

"It's been great talking to you, Ara, but I wasn't sent here to catch up."

"I know, say her message and then let's both get some sleep."

"You are sleeping."

"Not REM sleep, which I _really_ need, or we wouldn't be talking. Now hurry up."

"I was trying to, but you interrupted. Now, we've got some new help, and we're more powerful than you," he ignored Ara's snort, "and we're offering you a chance to come back to us."

"Not gonna happen."

"And I have been instructed to make the same offer to your Covenmates," he ignored Ara's sputtering, "but I'll try not to be too convincing. Now, good-night, Ara, sleep tight."

The image faded into darkness, and Ara was fully asleep once more.

**A/N: Reviews make authors happy, and happy authors write more and update faster. And this author gets writers' block without reviews. So REVIEW!!**

**A/N2: Okay, so 12 people have **_**Sisters**_** on their alert list, but it only has SEVEN reviews. So consider the long time for an update punishment for not reviewing.**


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